A First Time For Everything
by Kat Ducat
Summary: Luna Lovegood's life told in drabbles of 'first times'. Her first word, first love, first heartbreak...all shall be immortalised in writing. Because who doesn't love our crazy little Ravenclaw?
1. First Word

_A/N: this will be a collection of drabbles(under 300 words) about 'firsts' in Luna's life. It was inspired by the 'My First "…" Competition at the HPFC forum. Only one drabble was required, but I loved the idea of writing about Luna's life, so a few more shouldn't hurt. I used the name Alexandra Lovegood for Luna's mother, because we never learned her name in canon._

_Also written for the Favourite House Boot Camp with 'stars'._

_Word count: 286_

_Enjoy!_

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**First Word**

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When the girl was born, her parents refused to name her, saying that she would have to find a name for herself. A name should be true to who you are; the first and last word on your lips.

When the girl was a baby, Xeno and Alexa would take her out to the garden and describe everything in it by name. They would gaze hopefully at their little girl, wondering which beautiful flower she would choose to brand herself with.

When the girl was one year old, her parents celebrated her birthday by eating plimpy soup on the meadow outside their house. The night was warm and the light breeze that breezed in occasionally was so calming it sent the Lovegoods to sleep. They lay there, under the stars, with the girl nestled protectively in between them.

The girl, a silent, wide-eyed child, lay in the grass and observed the world around her. A sudden curiosity came over her as a rather large, pale, round object came into her line of sight. She nudged her father with a chubby little hand, then pointed at the thing in the sky.

Xeno, sleepy but always willing to fulfil his daughter's requests, looked up to where she was pointing and said—

"That? That's called the moon, or Luna in Latin. It's fascinating really; it revolves around the Earth about every thirty days and affects the tides. It's got many phases, but right now I can see it's in full—"

Only one word of this seemed to have reached the girl's ears. She opened her mouth a few times, as if testing the word out on her lips.

"Loon-a."

There could not have been a more perfect name.

)O(

_Fin_


	2. First Steps

_Word count: 341_

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**First Steps**

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They thought there was something _wrong_ with her.

At one and a half years old, they thought little Luna still couldn't walk. She would crawl all over the house, she would tumble around in the grass, she would roll around in the dirt-but her first steps were but a hopeful wish, existing only in the minds of her parents. Alexa used to spend whole days watching her daughter for any signs that she might stand upright and move on her own two feet, but Luna, it seemed, was content to use all four limbs _(she was always content)_.

Luna could spend hours exploring a cupboard and raiding it for interesting objects _(anything is interesting when you haven't seen it before)._ One day when Xeno was out interviewing a possible candidate for the next Minister of Magic (an old, previously retired man with very strong views on animal rights) and Alexa was lying in bed, sick, Luna crept into the kitchen, following a dog she was trying to establish a conversation with. The door was always open where the Lovegoods were concerned.

She watched it paddle into the kitchen then casually put its feet up on the low table to grab some food left out for lunch. It helped itself to a leftover meat pie then lapped up some of the plum pudding intended for Luna.

The girl watched the animal curiously, marvelling at how easily it could reach the food. She wanted to be a good host for the dog, so she came up to the table and stood up next to it. She reached for a spoon_ (always the lady)_ and daintily dipped it into the pudding.

When the dog suddenly stopped eating and ran out of the house (_what had she done to upset him?). _Luna turned around in surprise and took a few steps after it, as if imploring it to come back (_a dog's company is better than no company)_.

There was no-one there to witness her first steps.

They would never know how _normal_ she really was.

)O(

_Fin_


	3. First Book

_A/N: Written for the Favourite House Boot Camp with 'fairy tale'._

_The fairy tale being referred to in this story is Beedle the Bard's 'The Warlock's Hairy Heart'. It is in the book, if anyone would want to read it._

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**First Book**

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"_The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame." ― Oscar Wilde_

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It was a fairy tale. Of course it was a fairy tale. How could it not be a fairy tale when her mother was so obsessed with magical history?

Every night before she went to bed, just before her mother was about to turn off the lights, Luna would ask her to tell her a story. A story with magic and princesses and tragic endings, because there was just something so beautiful about it all.

There was just something so beautiful about sadness.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard were often the last thing Luna saw every night. She would stare in wonder at the pretty pictures of the warty cauldron, the hairy heart and the bloody bodies. They were fascinatingly morbid, impossible to look away from.

Her favourite was perhaps the most gruesome. The tale of the warlock and his hairy heart never failed to hold her transfixed, breathless to hear what would happen next.

She knew the story by heart but it filled her with the thrill of excitement every time. There was just something that felt so...right, about death. The deaths of people who she didn't know were always sad, always something to be mourned, but also something to think about.

In this story, death and gore did not disguise themselves as they did in many others. Luna loved it when something was true to itself. It gave her hope that everything would be alright.

There was just something so beautiful about truth.

)O(

_Fin_


	4. First Friend

_Word count: 272_

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**First Friend**

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"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring." ― Marilyn Monroe

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She sat in the meadow, making a wreath of clovers. She chose each flower carefully, looking for the ones that were past their prime and had started to wilt. In her concentration in looking for the imperfections, she didn't hear a boy coming up behind her.

"Why are you picking the old flowers?"

"It's cruel to kill the ones that are just starting to live. I'm just helping the old ones find their way to the next life." Luna did not turn her head, but treated the boy as if he was just another curious person on a long list of curious people. No-one she hadn't seen before.

"Did you know that four-leaf clovers can bring good luck? My gran told me so," the boy sidled over to her and sat down on the grass. He picked his nose before he continued, "She knows everything."

"Only those who wear the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw can know everything."

"Where's that then?"

"Oh, it's lost. My mummy has been trying to rebuild it."

"Can I see it?"

The question caused Luna to put down her partly-completed wreath and look at the boy for the first time. She gazed at him with wide blue eyes, surprised.

"You want to see my house?"

"Yes."

"And you don't think I'm weird?"

"I think you're interesting. The girls in the village just play with their boring old dolls. They've never told me anything about a diadem. What is a diadem?"

Luna sprang up, abandoning her clovers. She twirled around until she fell, her already long blond hair whipping around her face, then said-

"Will you be my friend?"

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_Fin_


	5. First Death

_A/N: Written for the Favourite House Boot Camp with 'lost'._

_Word count: 295_

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**First Death**

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It happened before she could blink away. The image seared itself onto the insides of her eyelids with a burning, unstoppable force just as she was about to cry out –

With a flash, Luna's world exploded around her, the waves of noise hitting her with their full force as her feet were wrenched from the ground she had never readily relied on.

When she was flung backwards, she couldn't think of the pain squeezing at her chest or the loss of breath in her body. She wondered where her mummy was, knowing how close she'd been to the explosion.

Maybe she would see her, waving merrily, when the dust cleared. She would probably laugh when she saw what a mess she'd made this time. Yes, she would laugh and her daddy would come along and help them clean up.

They could have Gulping Plimpy soup together, just outside.

She vaguely wondered why her mummy hadn't gotten up yet, seeing as there wasn't _that_ much damage done to the room. All there really was was a very large hole in the middle of it, going so far down Luna could see the tunnels left by Burrowing Ratshews when she tiptoed to the edge.

Maybe her mummy had gone to live with the Ratshews. She could teach them how to make soup and Luna could come down for dinner sometimes.

Luna could see that the potion her mother had been trying to perfect for so long was spilled all across the room. She would never be able to finish it. The thought of her mummy's work being lost like this drove Luna to tears and made her scrabble around on the floor, looking for something she could scoop the potion back in.

It was such a waste.

)O(

_Fin_


	6. First Magic

_A/N: Written for Ice Mice in the Honeydukes Competition._

_A big thank you to all my reviewers! You are what make me continue this, even when I'm lacking in inspiration. You make my day, you wonderful people. _

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_**First Magic**_

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Luna cannot imagine a greater state of being than soaring through the air, unbound by any earthly constraints.

She can make leaves whirl up into the air as if they are being sucked by a strong wind. She can make blankets zoom around, as if the magic they were powered by was their own, and not hers. She can make Dirigible Plums strain away from the bushes they are growing on and leap up into the sky like tiny cannonballs.

Once, she even treated a frog to a crash course in flying. It's probably hopping in and out of ponds now, wishing it could return to the summer breeze it had briefly called home.

Who wouldn't want to, literally, be free as a bird?

She watches the sky with apparent glee, but there's something nagging at the back of her mind.

This is all very wonderful, but, once again, she's not included in the fun.

She wishes she could join those leaves, those blankets, those plums in the air and dance with them. If they can do it, why can't she? It's not fair.

_Life isn't fair¸_ her father says. _There will always be people who have more than you._

_But that's not very nice!_

_Oh Luna, kindness is as hard to find as a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. Don't worry about these things 'till you have to. Now come help me with the dinner. Can you fly the plates over here?_

And so she helps him, duly. Once she has started to use it for doing chores, magic is a lot less magical in her mind. It becomes a part of everyday life. There's nothing more to experiment on that she hasn't investigated already.

When a letter comes inviting her to continue her journey of discoveries, she cannot not feel a thrill of that which she felt when first she made a flower petal hover over her hand. There will be other people there too, people who can do the kinds of things she can do. People she can talk to in a tone of excitement, who will share her feelings towards magic.

Maybe even people she can take flying. She'd like that.

)O(

_Fin_


End file.
